Cats are inherently curious creatures which are why there’s the saying “curiosity kills the cat.

” But for a cat named Bodhi, that curiosity has actually gotten him places as he accompanies his owner everywhere, which means he’s been out hiking, biking, and even skiing.

Bodhi even managed to complete a three-day biking tour through the Canadian Rockies and has his own life jacket when he’s out paddleboarding.

Meet Bodhi in the video below.

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Video credit: Rumble

Bodhi’s owner is 50-year-old Michelle Gagnon and she calls him her “adventure cat.”

Michelle, a retired hiking guide, from Canmore, Alberta, Canada, said: “An adventure cat is a term I made up 18 years ago when I got my old cat Bugaboo.

“An adventure cat comes along with you on adventures whether that means he’s sitting in a bike basket or walking alongside you or sitting on your shoulders.”

Bodhi is a 14-month-old Maine Coon cat. As expected of one who spends time outdoors, he has a robust build and weighs in at an incredible 16 pounds which is twice that of an average tabby.

Maine Coons are the largest domesticated cat breeds as well as being one of the oldest natural breeds in North America. As their name implies, the breed is native to Maine and is the state’s official cat.

It can be challenging to train a cat to adapt to adventuring outdoors because they tend to want to be in control of their environment.

She said: “Cats have this real desire to keep themselves safe and they have a very high instinctual survival mode. They have to be in control of everything and training a cat is about getting them used to everything outside, like wide-open spaces and walking on sidewalks.

“I’m putting in lots of hours in training and getting Bodhi to walk as much as possible. He is now way better with wide-open spaces and walking on a trail and understanding that wildlife moves around him.”

From the moment Michelle got Bodhi, she immediately took him cross-country skiing.

She added: “I didn’t know how I was going to train him in the wintertime but I just decided to take him cross-country skiing.

“He walked behind me on the snow and then on the way down, he curled up on my shoulders and I skied down with him on my shoulders. Sitting on my shoulders is always his safe spot. He has also been hiking in the mountains, his furthest hike is almost 6km.

“The biggest thing that slows him down is wild animal smells and that’s a very real thing living where we do in Canmore. If it’s a predator like a cougar or a coyote, it can really slow him down and even stop him.”

Apart from hiking and cross-country skiing, this adventure cat also likes biking and paddle-boarding.

Michelle added: “He has done stand up paddle boarding. He wears a little life jacket when he’s on his paddleboard. He has gone a couple of big bike tours and we have biked some of the most scenic roads of the Canadian Rockies. One was two-days long and the other was three-days long. I made him a special basket for the front of my bike. We did 100km a day.”

Named after the Sanskrit term for enlightenment, Michelle thinks of Bodhi as her child.

“Bugaboo was definitely my baby and when he died, I felt like I had lost a child. Now Bodhi is like my next child. I want him to have positive experiences on all of our adventures and build his confidence. You have to make it interesting for them. I try not to use treats as then they just want more treats. I try to use a lot of positive encouragement.”

 

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